Brett Neilon didn’t play organized football until he was in high school. That’s unusual for a person who would go on to be a collegiate athlete, as Neilon has done as an offensive lineman at USC.

Most of his Trojan teammates started playing much earlier, but that was impossible for Neilon, given he spent most of his childhood in Tokyo.

But even more than 5,000 miles away from the continental United States and dealing with a 16-hour time difference, Neilon found a way to get his football fix.

“I would tell my mom I’m sick on Monday to watch Sunday Night Football during the day,” Neilon recalled. “So I’ve always been a football fan.”

Life in Tokyo

Neilon was born in Mission Viejo, but when he was 6 months old, his father, Michael, got a job at Advanced Medical Optics in Tokyo. So the family packed up and moved to Japan.

The Neilons stayed there for six years before moving back to Southern California for two years. Then it was back to Japan until Neilon was in eighth grade.

Neilon fell in love with Japan, where he could wander the streets safely and find hole-in-the-wall ramen spots to eat.

“It’s a great culture they have,” said Neilon, whose mother is Japanese-American. “It’s all about hard work, respect.”

While his father helped organize pickup football games with other American transplants, Neilon spent most of his time playing other sports like baseball, soccer and basketball. When he was really young, he participated in gymnastics.

And he also spent a few years practicing aikido, a Japanese martial art designed to protect oneself from injury while also not inflicting serious damage to one’s attacker.

“They’d call you up individually, you’d have to perform something to get your next belt,” said Neilon, who got to the orange belt level. “It was about performance, hand-eye coordination. Just overall athleticism.”

All traits that the 6-foot-2, 300-pound redshirt sophomore said helped him as he began his football career some years later.

Living in Japan, the Neilons took advantage of their proximity to other countries to explore. They traveled to China, Cambodia, the Philippines.

“He was fortunate enough to be exposed to this at a young age, which I think really developed him to who he is today,” his mother, Cora, said. “I think he has respect for other people, for other cultures. I think it also made him a little more worldly. I think that makes him a little bit unique.”

Back in the States

A year after Neilon moved back to the U.S., he enrolled at Santa Margarita High School and joined the junior varsity football team. Despite his childhood in Japan, Neilon had always loved the sport.

His father played in high school and went to college at USC. When they came home for Christmas each year, they’d watch bowl games together.

At the beginning of his sophomore year, Neilon called his father excitedly to tell him he was being called up to varsity. Given the Trinity League talent pool, his father expected this meant Neilon would be a backup.

Instead, Neilon was the starting left guard. When a family friend whose son played collegiate ball told Michael his son might be able to earn a scholarship, Neilon started doing skills camps like the Men in the Trenches Academy, run by former NFL player Jesse Sapolu.

Before his junior year, Neilon participated in one of Michigan’s satellite camps. When he lined up for his first drill, Tim Drevno, then the Michigan line coach and now at USC, didn’t give the undersized Neilon much of a look.

But then Neilon knocked over his first individual matchup, and Drevno paused. He ran the drill again – same result. Then again. Drevno sent a bigger opponent in front of Neilon, and Neilon again was the victor.

“I was standing behind Drevno, maybe five yards,” Michael recalled. “And Drevno turns to his assistant and goes, ‘Hey, find out who that guy is.’”

Neilon would go on to have more than 20 offers, even from some Ivy League schools given his 4.1 GPA. He took several visits and considered Michigan, Washington and Stanford.

But when USC head coach Clay Helton took him into the Coliseum and whipped out a jersey with Neilon’s number on it to offer a scholarship, Michael knew that was probably it for his son’s recruitment.
Brett Neilon is hugged by Clay Helton after receiving his offer to play at USC. (Photo courtesy of the Neilon family)

“He bear-hugged Brett, lifted Brett off the ground,” Michael said. “He loves the big city, growing up in Tokyo, so he’s always in downtown L.A., eating at restaurants. He made a great choice for him. It’s really cool seeing him play there.”

No two roads to a football scholarship are the same. But Neilon’s path to USC was particularly unique.

Adam Grosbard covers USC athletics for the Orange County Register and Southern California News Group. He's previously covered SMU athletics and the WNBA for the Dallas Morning News and high school sports for the Long Beach Press-Telegram. A Pasadena native, he currently lives in the South Bay.

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